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AN    ADDRESS 


DELIVERED    BEFORE    THE 


ALUMNI  ASSOCIATION 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS 


CITY    OF    NEW    YOEK 


MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT  OF  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE, 


NINTH  AMUAL  MEETING,  MARCH  15,  1867, 


ALFRED   C.   POST,  M.  D. 


published   at  the    ijequest  of    the    Association 


NEW   YORK: 
BAKER    &    GODWIN,    PRINTERS 

PRINTING-HOUSE     SQUARE. 

1867. 


(SoUe^e    of    /Wh})$>ician&    anb    ^ifr^con^ 

IN      THE      CITY      OF      NEW      YORK, 

Medical   Department  of  jColumbia  j^ollege. 

EDWARD   DELAFIELD,  M.  D.,  President, 

EDWARD    L.    BEADLE,  M.  D.,  Vice-President,  /-*^7c&/' 

GURDON  BUCK,  M.  D„  Registrar, 

FLOYD    SMITH,  Treasurer,  - 

And  Twenty-five  Trustees. 

Faculty,  ~7 /7jT^ 


EDWARD   DELAFIELD,  M.  D 

President  and  Professor  Emeritus  of  Obstetrics. 

ALEXANDER   H.    STEVENS,  M.  D.,  LL.  D., 

Professor  Emeritus  of  Clinical  Surgery. 

JOHN   TORREY,  M.  D.,  LL.D., 

Professor  Emeritus  of  Chemistry  and  Botany. 

WILLIAM   DETMOLD,  M.  D., 

Professor  Emeritus  of  Clinical  and  Military  Surgeiy 


ROBERT  WATTS,  M.  D., 

Professor  of  Anatomy.    . 

WILLARD   PARKER,  M.D., 

Professor  of  the  Principles  and  Practice  of  Surgery  and  Surgical  Anatomy. 

THOMAS  M.    MARKOE,  M.  D., 

Professor  Adjunct  of  Surgery. 

ALONZO   CLARK,  M.D., 

Professor  of  Pathology  and  Practical  Medicine. 

JOHN   C.    DALTON,  M.  D., 

Professor  of  Physiology  and  Microscopic  Anatomy. 

SAMUEL   ST.  JOHN,  M.  D., 

Professor  of  Chemistry. 

T.    GAILLARD   THOMAS,  M.  I)., 

Professor  of  Obstetrics  and  the  Diseases  of  Women  and  Children. 

JOHN  T.    METCALFE,  M.D., 

Professor  of    Clinical  Medicine. 

HENRY  B.    SANDS,  M.  D., 

Lecturer  Adjunct  on   Anatomy. 

FREEMAN  J.    BUMSTEAD,  M.  D., 

Lecturer  on  Materia  Medica  and  on  Venereal  Diseases. 

ERSKINE   MASON,  M.D., 

Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  and  Curator  of  the  College  Museum. 

T.  T.  SABINE,  M.  D., 

Assistant  Demonstrator. 

JAMES  L.    LITTLE,  M.  D., 

#     Assistant  to  the  Professor  of  Surgery. 

JOHN    T.    KENNEDY,  M.  D., 

GERARDUS  H.   WYNKOOP,  M.  D., 

Clinical  Assistants  for  the  Surgical  Clinique. 

•EDWARD   B.   DALTON,  M.  D., 

Clinical  Clerk  for  the  Medical  Clinique. 

ROBERT  WATTS,  Jr.,  M.  D., 

FRANCIS   DELAFIELD,  M.  D., 

Clinical  Assistants  for  the  Medical  Clinique. 

THOMAS   HAIGH,  M.  D., 

Assistant  to  the  Professor  of  Physiology. 

JAMES  L.   BROWN,  M.  D., 
Assistant  to  the  Professor  of  Obstetrics. 


THOMAS   DENHAM, 

Clerk  of  the  College. 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemen,  Alumni  or  the   College  of   Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons : 

Your  Alma  Mater  summons  you  here  this  evening  to  celebrate 
her  sixtieth  birthday.  Although  she  has  reached  the  age  of  three- 
score years,  she  shows  no  signs  of  decaying  strength.  Her  face 
is  not  wrinkled,  "  her  eye  is  not  dim,  nor  is  her  natural  force 
abated."  She  rejoices  in  her  numerous  family,  and  from  each 
annual  brood  of  her  offspring  she  derives  renewed  health  and 
vigor,  as  the  parent  trunk  of  the  banian  tree  receives  new  life 
and  strength  from  the  offshoots  by  which  its  branches  communi- 
cate with  the  earth.  On  this  auspicious  occasion,  she  invites  her 
sons  to  lay  aside  their  ordinary  avocations,  and  to  assemble  beneath 
the  maternal  roof,  that  she  and  they  may  rejoice  together  in  their 
common  prosperity,  and  may  talk  together  of  the  days  of  "  Auld 
lang  syne." 

The  days  of  her  life  have  been  among  the  most  eventful  which 
have  been  recorded  in  the  annals  of  time.  During  the  sixty  years 
which  have  elapsed  since  she  came  into  existence,  the  application 
of  steam  to  the  propulsion  of  vessels  on  rivers,  and  lakes,  and 
seas,  and  oceans,  has  effected  a  most  important  revolution  in  the 
commerce  of  the  world.  The  construction  of  railroads,  and  of 
trains  of  cars  drawn  by  locomotives,  has  brought  remote  regions 
into  close  proximity,  and  the  time  is  rapidly  approaching  when 
the  iron  horse  shall  traverse  an  unbroken  chain  of  communication 
across  our  vast  continent  from  ocean  to  ocean,  completing  with 
ease,  within  a  week  or  ten  days,  a  line  of  travel  which,  but  a  few 
years  ago,  consumed  weary  months,  and  exposed  the  hardy  pio- 
neers who  undertook  it  to  extraordinary  perils  and  privations. 
During   the   same    eventful    period,    the    electric   telegraph   has 


4 


brought  into  instantaneous  communication  with  each-  other  the 
dwellers  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  and  of  all  the 
intervening  regions.  The  nations  of  Europe  and  America  now 
hold  daily  intercourse  along  the  mysterious  wire  which  lies  im- 
bedded in  the  sands  beneath  old  ocean's  waves.  Over  the  vast 
expanse  of  field  and  flood,  of  hill  and  valley,  of  mountain  and 
plain,  through  the  streets  of  populous  cities,  and  throughout  the 
vast  solitudes  of  nature,  is  stretched  the  wire  by  which  intelligence 
is  conveyed  over  the  world  with  a  speed  compared  with  which  the 
flight  of  the  eagle  darting  down  upon  his  prey  is  as  the  crawling 
of  a  worm  upon  the  ground.  This  same  period  has  given  birth 
to  the  photographic  art,  by  which  all  visible  objects  are  capable 
of  being:  delineated  in  a  few  seconds  with  a  fidelitv,  an  accuracy, 
and  a  minuteness  of  detail  with  which  no  artist's  pencil  could 
compete.  Thus  the  great  imponderable  agents,  heat,  light,  and 
electricity,  have  been  brought  into  the  service  of  man,  and  have 
accomplished  his  bidding  in  a  manner,  and  to  a  degree,  of  which 
no  man  ever  dreamed  in  past  ages.  The  results  which  have 
already  been  accomplished  by  these  ethereal  and  mysterious 
agents  are  of  the  most  stupendous  character,  and  the  imagination  is 
almost  overwhelmed  by  the  contemplation  of  the  future  triumphs 
which  human  intellect  is  destined  to  achieve  by  the  agency  of 
these  subtle  forces,  which  are  so  inscrutable  in  their  nature,  but 
so  mighty  in  their  results.  The  last  sixty  years  have  been  char- 
acterized by  an  advancement  in  the  arts  and  sciences  vastly 
exceeding  that  which  has  taken  place  during  any  equal  period  of 
time  in  the  history  of  our  race.  It  would  occupy  more  time  than 
could  be  properly  employed  on  an  occasion  like  this,  to  recount 
the  details  of  the  remarkable  advancement  to  which  allusion  has 
been  made.  But  we  may  profitably  occupy  a  few  moments  in  glan- 
cing over  a  few  of  the  leading  improvements  which  have  occurred. 
The  extensive  introduction  of  machinery  in  an  immense  variety 
of  forms,  to  take  the  place  of  manual  labor,  has  exerted  a  mighty 
influence  in  multiplying  the  power  of  man  over  the  elements  of 
nature,  and  in  increasing  the  material  results  of  human  industry. 
The  numerous  and  highly  ingenious  agricultural  implements 
which  have  been  introduced  within  a  few  years,  have  to  a  great 
extent  revolutionized  our  system  of  agriculture,  and  have 
astonishingly  increased  the  productions  of  the  earth,  and  added 
to  the  wealth  and  substantial  comforts  of  the  human  race.     The 


improvements  wliich  have  been  introduced  into  the  printing-press 
have  added  vastly  to  the  power  of  this  important  agent,  and  have 
given  to  it  an  incalculable  influence  in  advancing  human  intelli- 
gence, and  adding  to  the  sum  of  human  knowledge.  Correspond- 
ing improvements  have  been  made  in  mining  and  metallurgy  and 
in  all  the  mechanic  arts,  giving  to  human  labor  a  value  and  a 
power  which  it  never  before  possessed.  The  introduction  of  the 
sewing  machine  has  added  greatly  to  the  productiveness  of  human 
labor  in  the  department  to  which  it  belongs,  and  has  served  to 
emancipate  woman  from  a  large  part  of  the  oppressive  toil  and 
drudgery  to  which  she  was  exposed.  When  we  contemplate  the 
beneficent  results  which  have  flowed  from  this  useful  invention, 
we  may  well  unite  with  our  mothers  and  sisters,  and  wives  and 
daughters,  in  rendering  thanks  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  the 
alleviation  of  care  and  toil,  and  the  increase  of  substantial  enjoy- 
ment to  which  it  has  given  rise.  The  introduction  of  caoutchouc 
and  gutta  perch  a,  and  the  important  and  constantly  multiplying 
uses  which  are  made  of  them,  may  be  enumerated  among  the 
substantial  improvements  of  the  period  which  we  are  contem- 
plating. It  is  almost  superfluous  to  speak  of  the  progress  which 
has  been  made  in  the  art  of  war.  The  comparison  of  a  wooden 
ship,  propelled  by  the  wind  and  armed  with  32  or  64-pounders, 
with  a  Monitor  or  a  Dunderberg  with  its  tremendous  engines  of 
destruction,  may  suffice  to  show  the  advancement  which  has  been 
made  within  a  very  few  years. 

In  every  department  of  science  as  well  as  of  art,  a  correspond- 
ing progress  has  been  made.  The  students  of  nature  have  pushed 
their  researches  to  a  point  far  in  advance  of  that  which  had  been 
gained  by  their  predecessors.  And  the  knowledge  thus  acquired 
has  not  been  confined  within  the  walls  of  universities,  nor  within 
the  breasts  of  a  limited  number  of  scientific  men,  but  it  has  been 
widely  diffused  throughout  the  community.  Popular  education 
has  been  extended  much  more  widely  during  the  last  sixty  years 
than  in  any  preceding  age ;  and  thus  an  impulse  has  been  com- 
municated to  the  popular  mind,  tending  greatly  to  the  increase  of 
its  powers,  and  the  enlargement  of  its  acquisitions  in  coming 
years. 

During  the  period  which  we  have  been  considering,  great 
changes  have  taken  place  in  the  political  condition  of  the  world. 
At  the  commencement  of  this  period^  jS^apoleon  the  1st,  in  his 


6 


imperial  glory,  reigned  with  undisputed  power  over  the  French 
nation,  and  exerted  a  mighty  influence  over  the  destinies  of 
Europe,  making  and  unmaking  kings  at  his  pleasure. 

George  III.  in  England  was  approaching  the  end  of  his  long 
and  eventful  reign,  presenting  the  sad  spectacle  of  a  mind  in 
ruins. 

Alexander  I.  was  the  emperor  of  Russia,  and  the  resources  of 
his  great  empire  were  taxed  to  their  utmost  in  contending  with 
Napoleon. 

Germany  was  divided  into  a  great  number  of  principalities. 
The  leading  governments  were  those  of  Austria  and  Prussia, 
which  were  allied  with  Russia  in  efforts  to  circumscribe  the 
power  of  the  French  emperor.  Within  a  few  years,  the  mighty 
emperor  at  whose  nod  monarchs  trembled  on  their  thrones,  was  a 
captive  exile  on  the  rock-bound  island  of  St.  Helena.  The 
Bourbon  family  returned  to  Paris,  and  resumed  its  regal  authority. 
It  had  forgotten  nothing  ;  it  had  learned  nothing.  The  reins  of 
government  fell  from  its  hands,  and  Louis  Philippe  of  Orleans  was 
seated  on  the  throne.  After  a  few  years  there  was  another  popu- 
lar uprising  ;  the  old  king  was  dethroned,  the  royal  family  driven 
into  exile,  and  the  French  Republic  was  organized.  Louis 
Napoleon  was  elected  President ;  and  by  a  coup  d'etat  he  seized 
the  reins  of  imperial  government,  and  has  since  exercised  a  power 
in  Europe  hardly  inferior  to  that  of  his  illustrious  uncle. 

England  has  passed  through  the  reigns  of  George  IY.  and 
William  IY.,  and  has  for  many  years  been  governed  by  the 
enlightened  queen  who  now  presides  over  its  destinies.  It  has 
extended  its  commerce  and  increased  its  wealth,  but  its  relative 
position  among  the  great  powers  of  Europe  is  less  influential  than 
it  was  sixty  years  ago. 

Russia  has  gone  on  increasing  in  population,  in  civilization, 
and  in  material  resources.  And  it  has  only  been  restrained  by 
the  other  great  powers  of  Europe  from  indulging  its  long- 
cherished  appetite  for  Turkey,  and  from  extending  its  limits  to 
the  Bosphorus.  Its  eye  is  still  directed  to  the  south,  and  with 
eager  expectation  it  is  waiting  for  its  manifest  destiny.  The 
reign  of  the  present  emperor,  Alexander  II.,  lias  been  distin- 
guished by  that  great  act  of  generosity  and  of  justice  by  which 
the  millions  of  its  serfs  were  raised  to  the  dignity  and  independ- 
ence of  freemen.     His  name  will  be  cherished  among  those  of  the 


great  benefactors  of  our  race,  and  the  blessings  of  unborn  gen- 
erations will  rest  on  his  memory. 

The  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  Germany  during  the 
last  year  are  so  fresh  in  the  memory  of  all  who  hear  me,  that  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  allude  to  them.  Few  events  in  the  history  of 
the  world  have  been  more  startling  in  their  character,  and  the 
prospective  results  of  these  great  changes  are  matters  of  great  and 
absorbing  interest.  And  there  is  great  reason  to  hope  that  the 
time  is  not  far  distant  when  a  united  Germany  shall  stand  before 
the  world  in  its  fair  proportions,  and  shall  exert  the  power  and 
influence  to  which  the  numbers  and  intelligence  of  its  people 
justly  entitle  it. 

Italy  has  passed  through  a  series  of  revolutions  culminating, 
during  the  last  year,  in  the  separation  of  Yenetia  from  the  Aus- 
trian Empire,  and  the  consolidation  of  the  whole  peninsula,  with 
the  exception  of  the  limited  territory  attached  to  the  Roman  See, 
under  the  enlightened  and  liberal  dominion  of  the  Re  Galantuomo 
Victor  Emmanuel.  Ages  of  division  and  of  petty  despotism 
have  crushed  her  energies  and  exhausted  her  resources ;  but  the 
blood  of  the  ancient  conquerors  of  the  world  still  circulates  in 
the  veins  of  her  citizens,  and  under  the  new  order  of  things  there 
is  reason  to  hope  that  a  bright  destiny  is  in  reserve  for  her. 

The  Oriental  despotism  which  invaded  Europe  during  the 
middle  ages,  and  which  has  long  maintained  its  sway  at  Constan- 
tinople, still  curses  Europe  by  its  presence ;  but  during  the  last 
sixty  years  it  lias  become  greatly  shorn  of  its  strength,  and 
nothing  but  the  mutual  jealousy  of  the  great  powers  of  Europe 
has  prevented  its  utter  annihilation.  Greece  has  been  delivered 
from  the  Turkish  yoke,  and  occupies  the  position  of  a  quasi  inde- 
pendent kingdom  ;  but  as  it  is  debarred  from  the  privilege  of 
choosing  its  own  rulers,  and  as  it  is  kept  in  tutelage  by  the  lead- 
ing powers,  its  energies  are  restrained,  and  its  aspirations  for  a 
higher  life  are  suppressed,  and  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  long 
ages  will  elapse  before  she  will  attain  to  the  dignity  and  influ- 
ence which  she  once  possessed,  when  her  warriors  and  states- 
men, her  painters  and  sculptors,  her  poets  and  philosophers,  com- 
manded the  admiration  of  the  world. 

The  changes  which  have  taken  place  in  Asia,  during  the 
period  which  we  are  considering,  have  been  less  striking  than 
those   which    have   occurred   in   Europe ;    but,   in  estimating  the 


progress  of  the  world,  the}7  are  by  no  means  to  be  overlooked. 
Russia  has  extended  and  consolidated  its  power  over  the  northern 
regions  of  the  great  continent,  and  England  has  confirmed  her 
sway  over  the  teeming  millions  of  Hindostan.  China  and  Japan, 
whose  exclusive  policy  had  long  shut  them  out  from  general  inter- 
course with  the  world,  have  now  taken  their  place  in  the  family 
of  nations,  and  have  admitted  the  long  excluded  strangers  to 
their  shores.  The  light  of  civilization  and  the  benign  influences 
of  the  Christian  religion  have  begun  to  dawn  on  them,  and  there 
is  reason  to  hope  that  the  darkness  which  has  so  long  brooded 
over  the  Eastern  Continent  and  the  adjacent  islands  will  soon  be 
dispelled,  and  that  the  dwellers  in  those  distant  regions  will  share 
with  their  brethren  of  the  West  a  higher  intellectual  culture  and 
a  purer  religious  faith. 

Mexico  and  South  America  have  been  freed  from  the  yoke  of 
Spain  and  Portugal,  and  have  established  independent  govern- 
ments ;  but  they  have  much  to  learn  in  the  art  of  self-government 
before  they  can  take  their  place  by  the  side  of  our  own  country, 
or  of  the  more  enlightened  countries  of  Europe.  The  recent 
attempts  of  France  and  Spain  to  establish  European  despotisms 
on  this  continent  have  failed  so  signally,  that  it  is  doubtful  whether 
any  similar  attempts  will  be  repeated. 

The  progress  of  the  United  States  during  the  last  sixty  years 
constitutes  one  of  the  most  remarkable  chapters  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  At  the  commencement  of  this .  period  the  population 
was  less  than  seven  millions,  nearly  all  of  whom  occupied  the  ter- 
ritory between  the  Alleghany  Mountains  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
Kentucky  and  Ohio  were  then  the  only  States  west  of  the  Alle 
ghanies,  and  their  joint  population  was  less  than  half  a  million. 
Since  that  time  the  population  of  the  country  has  increased  to 
about  thirty -seven  millions ;  the  States  in  the  Yalley  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi have  increased  from  two  to  eighteen,  and  three  new 
States  have  sprung  up  in  the  region  between  the  Boeky  Moun- 
tains and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  productive  industry  of  our 
country  has  increased  in  a  ratio  far  exceeding  that  of  our  popula- 
tion. In  agriculture,  in  manufactures,  in  commerce,  in  mining, 
and  in  the  mechanic  arts,  our  progress  has  greatly  exceeded  that 
of  any  other  nation  during  the  same  period.  And  as  we  have 
excelled  in  the  arts  of  peace,  we  have  shown  no  less  capacity  in 
the  complicated  operations  of  military  and  naval  warfare.     In  the 


war  with  England  in  1812,  and  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  our  mili- 
tary prowess  gained  for  us  the  respect  and  admiration  of  Europe. 
But  in  the  late  civil  conflict,  in  which  the  forces  of  the  nation  were 
engaged  in  contending  with  a  rebellion  more  gigantic  than  the 
world  had  ever  before  seen,  when  vast  armies  were  engaged  in 
mortal  combat,  when  courage  and  endurance  were  put  to  the 
most  severe  test,  and  when  our  national  resources  were  taxed  to 
a  degree  almost  unequal ed  in  the  history  of  the  world,  our 
ability  as  a  warlike  nation  was  demonstrated  to  the  amazement  of 
those  who  had  exultingly  predicted  the  downfall  of  the  republic, 
and  to  the  admiration  of  those  who  had  sympathized  with  us  in 
our  struggle.  And  among  the  wonderful  events  connected  with 
the  history  of  the  war  and  with  its  successful  termination,  there 
is  nothing  which  has  been  more  surprising  to  our  friends  and  to 
our  enemies  than  the  vast  pecuniary  resources  which  the  nation 
has  freely  contributed  to  sustain  its  government  and  to  preserve 
its  territorial  integrity.  In  the  results  of  this  war,  we  have  given 
to  the  nations  of  the  earth  a  practical  lesson  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, viz.,  that  the  largest  liberty  is  consistent  with  the  most 
implicit  obedience  to  law,  and  with  the  most  energetic  action  in 
the  defence  of  the  national  government,  and  that  an  earnest 
devotion  to  the  arts  of  peaceful  industry  is  the  best  preparation 
for  the  bloody  arbitrament  of  war. 

Having  taken  this  brief  and  cursory  view  of  some  of  the  lead- 
ing changes  in  the  condition  of  the  world  which  have  taken  place 
since  the  foundation  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons, 
let  us  review  some  of  the  changes  which  have  occurred  in  the 
medical  profession  during  the  same  period.  This  period  has  been 
characterized  by  an  intense  activity  in  the  investigation  of  dis- 
eases, especially  with  reference  to  their  pathological  character, 
and  to  their  diagnosis.  Morbid  anatomy  has  been  studied  with  a 
zeal  and  success  unknown  at  any  former  period.  The  microscope, 
in  its  improved  form,  has  been  very  extensively  and  beneficially 
employed  in  the  elucidation  of  minute  histology,  in  its  physiologi- 
cal and  pathological  relations.  Physical,  diagnosis  scarcely  had 
an  existence  at  the  time  when  this  College  was  founded.  At  that 
time,  rational  symptoms  or  disturbances  of  function  were  almost 
exclusively  relied  on  in  the  diagnosis  of  disease.  The  application 
of  the  sense  of  vision  to  the  investigation  of  diseased  parts  was 
almost   unknown,  except  when  the  disease  was  located  upon  the 


10 


external  surface  of  the  body.  The  ocular  inspection  of  the 
interior  of  the  vagina,  of  the  os  uteri,  and  of  the  internal  surface 
of  the  rectum,  by  means  of  the  speculum,  was  unknown.  The 
ophthalmoscope  had  not  yet  exposed  to  view  the  interior  of  the 
eye,  and  many  of  the  diseases  of  that  delicate  and  important 
organ  were  consequently  unknown  or  very  imperfectly  under- 
stood. The  otoscope  was  also  unknown,  and  the  morbid  con- 
ditions of  the  meatus  auditorius,  and  of  the  membrana  tympani 
were  not  properly  appreciated.  The  laryngoscope,  the  rhino- 
scope,  and  the  endoscope,  had  not  yet  been  introduced,  and  the 
data  for  judging  of  the  diseased  conditions  of  the  larynx  and 
trachea,  the  posterior  nares  and  the  urethra,  were  much  less  full 
and  complete  than  they  have  become  since  the  introduction  of 
these  valuable  instruments.  Sixty  years  ago,  the  practice  of  aus- 
cultation and  percussion  was  almost  unknown.  Since  that  time, 
the  sense  of  hearing  has  been  brought  into  requisition  as  a  most 
important  means  of  diagnosis  in  affections  of  the  heart  and 
arteries,  of  the  lungs,  and  of  other  organs. 

The  Materia  Medica  has  undergone  great  improvements,  not 
only  by  the  introduction  of  many  new  and  valuable  remedies,  but 
also  by  the  employment  of  more  efficient  and  reliable  prepara- 
tions of  remedies  which  were  previously  in  use.  Among  these  im- 
proved preparations  may  be  enumerated  the  vegetable  alkaloids 
and  their  salts,  and  the  fluid  extracts.  The  Materia  Medica  of 
the  present  day  is  more  simple,  more  definite,  and  more  reliable 
than  that  of  sixty  years  ago.  But  the  greatest  improvement  of 
the  Materia  Medica  has  been  the  introduction  of  the  class  of 
anaesthetic  vapors.  The  younger  members  of  the  profession,  who 
cannot  look  back  upon  a  period  in  their  professional  lives  when 
the  anaesthetic  virtues  of  ether  and  chloroform  were  unknown,  can 
scarcely  conceive  of  the  extent  of  the  revolution  in  medical  and 
surgical  practice,  occasioned  by  the  introduction  of  these  import- 
ant agents.  They  cannot  look  back,  as  the  senior  members  of  the 
profession  can  do,  upon  the  overwhelming  horror  with  which 
patients  approached  the  operating  table,  and  upon  the  screams  of 
agony  which  were  wrung  from  the  sufferers,  as  the  instruments  of 
torture  penetrated  the  living  and  sensitive  tissues  of  their  bodie>. 
Surgical  operations  have  been  in  a  great  measure  divested  of  their 
terrors  by  the  introduction  of  that  marvellous  class  of  agents  bv 
means  of  which  the  patient  is  promptly  brought  into  a  state  of 


11 


complete  insensibility,  from  which  he  awakes  to  find  that  the 
dreaded  operation  lias  been  completed  without  any  consciousness 
on  his  part.  Among  the  important  improvements  of  the  Materia 
Medica,  may  also  be  mentioned  the  hypodermic  method  of  intro- 
ducing remedies  into  the  circulation,  by  which  means  their  action 
is  more  promptly,  more  certainly,  and  more  efficiently  secured. 

The  practice  of  medicine  has  kept  pace  with  the  progressive 
improvements  of  physiology  and  pathology.  The  natural  history 
of  disease  is  better  understood  than  formerly,  and  more  reliance 
is  placed  on  the  vis  meclicatrix  naturae.  And,  as  it  is  proper  on 
all  occasions  to  give  even  the  devil  his  due,  it  is  fair  to  acknowl- 
edge that  the  profession  is  somewhat  indebted  to  homoeopathy  for 
a  clearer  insight  into  the  powers  of  nature  in  the  cure  of  disease. 
If  patients,  suffering  from  grave  diseases,  are  found  to  recover 
while  taking  a  millionth  part  of  nothing  as  a  remedy,  it  is  not 
a  very  far-fetched  conclusion  that  the  credit  of  the  cure  is  rather 
due  to  the  vis  medicatrix  naturae  than  to  the  practitioner  who  em- 
ploys such  inefficient  remedies.  But  the  recent  improvements  in 
practical  medicine  are  not  entirely  of  a  negative  character.  In 
those  forms  of  disease  which,  when  left  to  themselves,  have  a 
strong  tendency  to  a  fatal  termination,  the  use  of  active  and  even 
heroic  remedies  often  becomes  an  absolute  necessity  in  order  to 
save  life.  The  treatment  of  acute  peritonitis  by  heroic  doses  of 
opium,  as  introduced  by  the  distinguished  professor  of  pathology 
and  practical  medicine  in  this  College,  is  a  familiar  and  pertinent 
example  of  this  class  of  improvements. 

The  advancement  which  has  been  made  in  surgery,  and  in 
gynecology,  during  the  last  sixty  years,  is  of  a  very  decided  char- 
acter. This  advancement  is  strikingly  illustrated  by  the  success- 
ful removal  of  ovarian  and  other  intra-abdominal  tumours ;  by  the 
division  of  muscles  and  tendons  for  the  cure  of  deformities ;  by 
the  crushing  of  calculous  concretions  within  the  urinary  bladder, 
and  the  subsequent  removal  of  the  fragments ;  by  the  successful 
application  of  ligatures  to  many  of  the  large  arteries  of  the 
body  ;  by  the  improved  methods  of  operating  upon  the  eye  and 
its  appendages  ;  by  the  application  of  the  principle  of  extension 
in  the  treatment  of  diseased  joints  ;  and  by  many  other  ingenious 
and  beneficial  applications  of  science  and  skill  to  the  removal  of 
deformity  and  to  the  cure  of  disease. 

But  I  should  greatly  transcend  the  appropriate  limits   of  the 


12 


present  occasion,  were  I  to  attempt  to  give  you  even  a  catalogue 
of  the  improvements  which  have  been  introduced  in  the  different 
branches  of  our  profession.  In  many  of  these  improvements,  the 
Alumni  and  the  teachers  of  this  College  may  say,  "quorum 
magna  pars  fui."  In  every  form  of  medical  investigation  they 
have  acted  a  conspicuous  part.  In  every  branch  of  the  healing 
art,  they  have  been  skillful  and  successful  practitioners.  In  then* 
devotion  to  the  sick  and  the  dying,  they  have  shown  a  zeal  and  be- 
nevolence worthy  of  all  admiration.  They  have  firmly  maintained 
their  ground  at  the  post  of  danger,  and  in  numerous  instances  have 
become  martyrs  in  the  cause- of  science  and  humanity.  And  it  is 
well  that  their  Alma  Mater  should  cherish  their  memory,  and  should 
record  their  names  on  the  enduring  marine,  with  the  appropriate 
inscription,  "  haec  rnea  ornamenta  sunt.1'  In  the  late,  war  in 
which  our  country  was  involved,  the  Alumni  of  this  College 
accompanied  the  regiments  of  our  advancing  armies  in  all  their 
long  and  tedious  marches,  in  their  fiercely  contested  battles,  in 
their  wearisome  encampments,  in  their  exposures  to  the  stormy 
blasts  of  winter  and  to  the  burning  heats  of  summer,  in  all  their 
sufferings  and  in  all  their  privations,  that  they  might  bestow  upon 
them  the  benefits  of  their  science  and  their  skill. 


For  when  our  country  called  ber  sons  to  stand 
And  bare  their  bosoms  at  her  stern  command. 
With  hearts  unmoved,  to  peril  limb  and  life, 
While  bravely  joining  in  th1  impending  strife, 
Boldly  to  meet  the  unrelenting  foe. 
And  strike  for  freedom  a  resistless  blow ; 
With  heart  and  hand  to  uphold  her  righteous  cause, 
To  fight  her  battles  and  maintain  her  laws ; 
And  when  her  sons,  obedient  to  her  word. 
Rose  in  their  might  and  drew  th'  avenging  sword. 
When  patriot  blood  flow'd  freely  'mid  the  clash 
Of  arms,  and  when  the  deadly  rifle's  flash 
With  power  resistless  sped  the  murderous  lead, 
And  laid  the  soldier  on  his  gory  bed ; 
Twas  theirs  with  gentle  art  his  wounds  to  bind, 
T  assuage  his  pain,  to  cheer  his  drooping  mind, 
To  stay  the  flowing  blood,  and  to  impart 
ISTew  vigor  to  the  faintly  beating  heart ; 
'Twas  theirs,  with  gifts  of  science  and  of  skill, 
To  turn  away  from  him  each  threaten' d  ill, 


To  watch  beside  his  bed  with  tender  care, 
With  earnest  sympathy  his  griefs  to  share, 
And  from  his  couch  of  languishing  and  pain 
To  raise  him  to  the  joys  of  health  again. 

Having  thus  reviewed  a  few  of  the  leading  incidents  which 
have  occurred  since  the  foundation  of  this  College,  let  us  cast  our 
eyes  upon  the  prospect  which  is  before  us.  The  science  and  the 
art  of  medicine  are  not  yet  complete.  There  are  many  arduous 
labors  vet  to  be  performed  ;  there  are  many  triumphs  yet  to  be 
won  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  in  the  future,  as  in  the  past,  the 
Alumni  of  this  College  will  be  found  in  the  front  ranks  of  those 
who  are  laboring  to  extend  the  bounds  of  our  science,  and  to  mul- 
tiply and  perfect  the  resources  of  our  art.  A  large  'proportion  of 
those  who  graduated  during  the  first  twenty  years  after  the  foun- 
dation of  the  College,  have  ceased  from  their  earthly  labors,  and 
the  few  who  remain  must  soon  withdraw  from  active  life.  The 
younger  Alumni  must  prepare  to  take  their  places;  and.  as  one 
generation  shall  succeed  another,  may  the  ranks  of  the  Alumni  of 
this  Institution  be  ever  full.  May  they  never  grow  weary  in  their 
labors  in  the  cause  of  science  and  of  humanity  ;  but  following  the 
illustrious  example  of  those  who  have  preceded  them,  may  they 
fix  their  eyes  upon  the  goal,  being  guided  by  the  motto,  "  Macte 
virtute,  sic  iter  ad  astra." 


COLLEGE  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  SURGEONS. 


V 


ECTUP^S, 


Regulapv    Coupvse. 

The  Regular  Course  of  Lectures  tor  the  Session  of  1867-8  will  commence 
on  Monday,  the  14th  of  October,  1807,  and  will  continue  until  early  in  the 
following  March.  This  course  will  consist  of  from  five  to  six  Daily  Lectures 
in  the  various  departments  of  Medicine  and  Surgery,  both  elementary  and 
practical,  together  with  Daily  Clinical  Lectures,  delivered  both  at  the  College 
and  at  the  larger  Hospitals. 

jSummepv   Course, 

The  closing  term  will  commence  on  the  9th  of  September,  1867,  and  con- 
tinue till  October  9th,  when  there  will  be  a  Preliminary  Course,  continuing  till 
the  commencement  of  the  Regular  Course.  In  the  Lectures  of  the  Summer 
and  Preliminary  Courses,  the  Faculty  of  the  College  will  be  assisted  by  other 
members  of  the  Medical  Profession. 


f 


EES. 


Matriculation  Fee,  $5. 

Fees  for  the  fall  Course  of  Lectures  by   all  the  Professors,  $140;    for  each 
separate  ticket,  $20. 

Ticket  of  the  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy,  $10. 
Graduation  Fee,  $80. 


P 


RADUATION, 


Candidates  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  must  have  attended  two 
full  courses  of  Lectures — the  latter  in  this  College.  They  must  have  studied 
medicine  three  years,  under  the  direction  of  a  regularly  authorized  physician, 
and  have  attained  the  age  of  twent}r-one  years.  Each  candidate  is  required  to 
write  a  medical  thesis,  and  to  deposit  it  with  the  Secretary  of  the  Faculty. 
Full  certificates  of  the  time  of  study,  of  age,  and  of  moral  character,  must 
also  be  furnished. 

The  examination  of  candidates  takes  place  semi-annually  ;  that  for  gradu- 
ation in  the  Spring,  early  in  March  ;  in  the  Fall,  on  the  second  Tuesday  in 
September. 


r 


PylZES, 


Faculty  Ppvizes. 
Two  Prizes  are  annually  awarded  by  the  Faculty,  at  the  College  Com- 
mencement in  March,  for  the  best  two  Graduating  Theses  presented  during  the 
year,  viz. :— A  First  Prize  of  Fifty  Dollars,  and  a  Second  Prize  of  Twenty-Five 
Dollars.  The  Theses  competing  for  these  prizes  should  be  handed  in  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Faculty,  in  the  Fall,  by  the  1st  of  September ;  and  in  the 
Spring,  by  the  1st  of  February.  At  the  Commencement  in  March,  1866,  these 
prizes  were  awarded  as  follows  : 


-H:ai\sen  Prizes, 
Founded  in  1859  oy  Jacob  Harsen,  M.  D.,  an  Alumnus  of  the  Col 
Three  Annual  Prizes  are  offered  for  the  best  three  written  Reports  of  the 
Clinical  Instruction  in  the  New  York  Hospital,  during  any  four  months  of  the 
year  immediately  preceding  the  Annual  Commencement  in  March,  which  shall 
be  prepared  and  presented  by  Students  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Sur- 
geons, viz. : 

A  First  Prize  of  One  Hundred  and  Fifty  Dollars. 
A  Second  Prize  of  Seventy-five  Dollars ;  and 
A  Third  Prize  of  Twenty-five  Dollars. 

With  each  prize  there  is  conferred  a  Harsen  Prize  Medal,  in  bronze,  of 
elegant  design  and  workmanship,  and  an  ornamental  diploma  on  parchment. 

P;rize  of  the  Alumni  Association. 
Two  Hundred  Dollars.  Graduates  of  the  College  who  desire  to  compete 
for  this  prize  must  send  their  Essays,  with  name  in  sealed  envelope,  to  the 
committee  appointed  to  make  the  award,  Dr.  Win.  H.  Draper,  33  East  Twelfth 
Street,  or  Dr.  Wm.  C.  Roberts,  278  Fourth  Avenue,  on  or  before  March  1, 
1868. 

Stevens    Triennial    Pf^ize. 

A  Prize  Fund  of  One  Thousand  Dollars  has  been  established  by  Alexan- 
der H.  Stevens,  M.  D.,  Ex-President  of  the  College,  for  the  improvement  of 
medical  literature,  on  the  following  plan  : 

Each  prize,  to  be  awarded  triennialfy,  is  to  consist  of  the  interest  yielded 
by  the  principal  Fund  during  the  preceding  three  years,  and  will  amount  to 
about  two  hundred  dollars. 

The  administration  of  the  prize  is  intrusted  to  a  commission,  consisting  of 
the  President  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  (ex-officio)  ;  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  Alumni  Association  (ex-officio)  ;  and  the  Professor  of  Physiology 
(ex-officio),  in  the  same  Institution. 

The  following  subjects  have  been  selected,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Stevens, 
for  the  first  triennial  prize  under  this  Fund  : 

1st.  The  best  means  of  preventing  death  after  Surgical  Accidents. 

2d.  The  History  of  Improvements  in  the  Medical  Art,  and  the  means  by 
which  they  are  attained. 

The  competing  essays  on  either  of  the  above  subjects  must  be  sent  in  to 
the  President  of  the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York,  on  or 
before  the  first  day  of  January,  1869.  Each  Essay  must  be  designated  by  a 
device  or  motto,  and  must  be  accompanied  by  a  sealed  envelope,  bearing  the 
same  device  or  motto,  and  containing  the  name  and  address  of  the  author. 
The  envelope  belonging  to  the  successful  essay  will  be  opened,  and  the  name 
of  the  author  announced  at  the  Annual  Commencement  of  the  College,  in 
March,  1869. 

This  Prize  is  open  for  universal  competition. 


The  Annual  Catalogues  and  Circulars  of  the  College  will  be  sent  to  all 
graduates  who  will  leave  their  Post-office  address  with  the  Secretary  of  the 
Faculty,  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  corner  of  Twenty-third  Street 
and  Fourth  Avenue,  New  York  City. 


OFFICERS 

OF   THE 

ALUMNI  ASSOCIATION 

OF    THE 

d'ollnir  of  |temm^  anil  iwgtcm.s, 


FOR   THE  YEAR    1867-68. 


President GURDON   BUCK,  M.  I)..    New  York. 

Vice-President,       GALENF  CARTER,  M.  D., 

Secretary ELLS^  ORTH  ELIOT,  M.  D  .    ■ 

Assistant  se.  y,  .  . .  J(  >HX  SHRADY,  M.  D.. 

Treasurer HENRY  B  SAN  DS,  M.  D  . 

•  -♦-» 

CO  I   \(  I  L  L  OH  .S.- 
WILLIAM VAX  DEURSEN,  M.  D New  Brunswick,  X.  J. 

A.  C.  POST,  M.  D New  York 

NIC!  >LL  II.  DERING,  M.  D Utica,  X.  Y. 

JOHN  TORREY,  M.  D.,  LL.  D New  York. 

JOSEPH  MAIJRAN,  M.  D Providence,  R.  I. 

BENJAMIN  OGDEN,  M.  D New  York 

JOHN  I.  WESTERVELT,  M.  D Staten  feland,  X.  Y. 

THEODORE  L.  MASON,  M.  D , Brooklyn,  X.  Y. 

OLIVER  BRONSON,  M.  D New  York. 

EZRA  M.  HUNT,  M.  D X.  J. 

DkWITT  C.  ENOS,  M.  I) Brooklyn,  X.  Y. 

P.  L.  PIXE.  M.  D Ponghkeepsie,  X.  Y. 

JAPED  LLNSLY,  M.  D New  York 

MIDDLETON  GOLDSMITH,  M.  D ".  .Louisville,  Ky. 

GEORGE  C.  BLACKMAN,  M.  D Cincinnati.  O. 

R.  RIRREX  BROWN,  M.  R Bloomingdale,  X.  Y. 

JOHN  R.  LeCONTE,  M.  R * Philadelphia,  Pa. 

HENRY  R,  NOYES,  M.  I' New  York. 

A.  G.  THOMPSON,  M.  R - Fslip,  X.  Y. 

JOHX  L.  VANDERYOORT,  M.  D New  York. 

ABRAHAM  BLOODGOOD,  M.  R Flushing,  X  Y. 


The  Annual  Meeting  and  Collation  of  the  Association  is  held  at  the 
the  second  Friday  Evening  in  March,  the  Commencement  being 
rhursdav  Evening. 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 

This  book  is  due  on  the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 
expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing, 
as  provided  by  the  rules  of  the  Library  or  by  special  ar- 
rangement with  the  Librarian  in  charge. 

DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

DATE  BORROWED 

DATE  DUE 

C26(2SS)MIOO 

(0 

■■'_ a 

LIBRA 

36 

SgjErPco 

l^Bs 

•a-"~ — ^'-~' 

M-R708 
Post 


P84 


